New York City-based experimental theater ensemble Elevator Repair Service has in recent years been acclaimed for their adaptation of a series of literary classics to the state in very innovative ways. This process began with their production Gatz which is based on a verbatim on stage reading of F. Scott Fitzgerald's entire novel The Great Gatsby around which pivots their compelling and inventive dramatization that takes place in a shabby office. ERS are now taking their utilization of verbatim text as the source for theater in a new direction with their upcoming production Arguendo which will premeire in the fall of 2013 at the prestigious Public Theatre in NYC, followed by its November presentation at the Wexner Center, one of the co-commissioning partners involved in producing Arguendo.
Arguendo: ERS takes on The Supreme Court.
Barnes v. Glen Theatre, argued before The Court in 1991, is a case brought by a group of go-go dancers who claimed a First Amendment right to dance totally nude, despite an Indiana law that said they couldn't. In oral argument, the justices debate the definition of dance, nudity in opera houses vs. strip-clubs and whether naked erotic dancing is artistic expression or a crime.
Arguendo is a verbatim staging of both the transcript of this case's oral argument and an interview with an erotic dance who came to listen. The production design features a swirl of animated text projections by video artist Ben Rubin and a re-imagined Supreme Court on rolling chairs. The drama that emerges is in turns absurd, hilarious, provocative and intellectually compelling.
After each performance, members of the audience will be invited to engage in conversation with ERS director John Collins, who will be joined each night by a different constitutional law expert.
See the COMPAS event page for a list of performances.
